Australia is getting a Ford Ranger Raptor and we're not

Australia has all the luck. Not only did they keep El Camino-style runabouts for decades after us in the U.S., now they get a Raptor version of the midsize Ford Ranger pickup, to boot. We know nothing about this car except that Ford confirmed it IS building it for the Asia-Pacific market. And we also know that we in the States will get a Ranger at some point in the near future? Could Ford decide this version of the Raptor is also for us? It does have a built-in competitor in the Chevy ZR2 pickup, based on the Colorado.

So, let's speculate wildly for a moment. We're guessing the Ranger's engine bay won't fit a Coyote V8 -- or maybe it would, but that's not a problem anyway, considering our F-150-based Raptor doesn't use a V8, either. So that leaves one of the EcoBoosts to handle motivation duty. Sure the 350-ish-hp 2.3-liter turbo-four would make perfect sense. It's light, it's responsive and it's not too much power to channel through a four-wheel-drive system or to just the rear wheels. We'd also guess it'll come with Fox Shocks, though we didn't see any branding in the video, along with BFGoodrich tires.

It does give us a few ideas, though, for when the Ranger does hit our shores. Engine swap, maybe? A little extra ride height? Hella off-road lights? The potential is limitless. At any rate, we'll keep an eye on it, and if we get news of the Ranger Raptor coming here, you'll be the first to know.

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